The Kerala government has announced a State-wide lockdown from May 8 to 16.
The directive was issued by the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan taking into consideration the surge in COVID-19 cases in the State during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Official sources said that the nine-day lockdown will come into effect from 6 a.m. on May 8 (Saturday). At present, lockdown is enforced from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., with semi-lockdown-like curbs during weekends.
Kerala had reported 41,593 COVID-19 positive cases on May 5 and a test positivity rate of 25.69%. The cumulative death toll had touched 5,565 on Wednesday.
